Pier bumper



w. TrKENNEDY PIER BUMPER July 29, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 2. 1953 HVVENTUR.

July 29, 1958 'w. T. KENNEDY 2,

' PIER BUMPER Filed June 2, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. E ll I WILL/AM I KENNEDY Il 11 M M 624..

A TTOR/VEYG United States Patent The invention described herein may be" manufactured andused by'or for the Government of the"-United States of Americ'a for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

This invention relates to'an improved pier bumper.

'It is an object of the invention to provide a pier bumper which provides protection to a pier, Wharf, slip, or other analogous object to which it may be attached and to a ship which may be tied or comealongside the pier,

A further object is to provide a pier bumper which remains at a predetermined level above the surface of the water notwithstanding relative changes in the distance from the water surface to the pier platform surface.

Still a further object is the provision'of a pier" bumper which readilyaligns itself for frictionreducing coupling.

between the pier and the movement of ja ship alongside. Another object of the invention is the provision of a pier bumper that will maintain itself in friction reducing relation with'a shipalongs'ide' thereof irrespective of the tide level or the lateral direction of mov'eme'nt of the ship relative to the pier.

It is still another object to provide a friction reducing pier bumper which is simple in construction and operation yet durable and sturdy.

Still a further object is the provision of a pier bumper which is easily mounted by securing to the pilings of a pier. V

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages'cf this invention will be readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connectionwith the accompanying drawings'wherein:

Fig. l is a partial view in perspective of a pier on which a plurality of pier bumpers constructed in accordance with the present invention are mounted;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the float and ship contact assembly;

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the float and ship contact assembly;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view partially in fragmentary section of a modification; and

Fig. 5 is a view in side elevation of the rotatable disc.

Referring to the drawings, as shown in Fig. 1, a plurality of pier bumpers, generally designated 11, may be mounted on a pier 12 to provide for friction reducing contact with a ship which may come alongside the pier. These bumpers 11 may be mounted closely adjacent each other, as shown, or may be mounted in spaced apart relation or singly as may be desired.

In the embodiment disclosed each individual pier bumper 11 is comprised of guide supports 21, a ship contact assembly 31, and a float 51.

The guide support assemblies 21 consist of a U-shaped guide 22, which may be constructed of U-shaped angle beam, secured, as by welding, to a spacer 23. The spacers 23 each have a pair of spaced apart split collars 24 which are secured about the pier pilings 25 as with nuts and: bolts 26; 27. The vertical guides 21 thus formedgrooved' runways for laterally supporting and guiding the move-- ment of the vertically slidable contact assembly 31.

Thecontact assembly 31- consists of a split panel 32- the ends of which have-rollers 33 mounted-in grooved-- out seats 34 therein. These rollers 33- are of greater diameter thanthe thickness of the panel and extend outwardly through slots35 at the bottom of the seats-34 and slots 36 in the-cover plates 37 which holdthe rollers in-= place in seats 35. The'rollers thus extend outwardly be yond the lateral-front and back surfaces of the'panel 32 for rolling contact with the inner surfaces of the guides 22i Rotatably mounted-for rotation about a horizontal axis normal to the plane of movement; of the panel- 32 is a disc- 41'.- Thetwohalves 32a, 32b of the split panel 32- each have a semi-circular recess formed on the adjacent sides? thereof of a diameter slightly larger than thediameter of. the disc 41. The-mounting; for the disc 41 is comprised of-ba-lI-bearings 42 seated in annular grooves 43ar'ranged; in the inner surfaces ofthe circular opening formed bythe joining'together of the two panel halves 32a, 32b; 1 A- concavearcuate groove 44 is formed in the-circumferen-- tial surface of the disc 41 for engagement withth'e ball bearings 42, The two halves32a-and 32b'of the panel 32 aresecured together byconnectingplates 45=which are bolted, as indicated at 46, to the twohalves 32a and 32b:

The disc 41= is thus held between the two halves of the panel in such-a manner that his free to rotateabo1ititsaxis but is securely held against lateral move'rnent'.

Secured to the outer face of the'disc-4-1- area pair of caster roller supports 47. These supports 47' have se cured, as by apress fit, in their outer endsa shaft 48 upon which isrotatably mounted a contact caster-roller 49:-

The shaft 48- and contact roller 49- are positioned with:

their axis to-the side of the-axis of rotation of'the disc 41 and normal' to the disc axis.- It will thus be apparent thatfor any impact force applied to the roller in a direc tioneither directly towardthe'pier or at'an-acute angle thereto will, dueto the ofl 'cente'r positioningof the-con tact rollers axis relative to'the axis line of disc- 41-, be

applied in its greatest strength at-a point oflsetfro'msthe center of disc 41.- This will cause a torsion action on disc 41* tending torotate it-ina direction. toward the pie'r and transfer the shock: of the-impact'force to panel 32 in:

a manner causing a rotative torque on panel- 32. This torsional efl'ect in transmitting an impact force from the contact roller 49 to the panel 32 allows a greater impact force to be absorbed by the contact assembly 31 and transferred to the pier, without deformation of the contact assembly 31, than would be possible if the force was applied with its greatest intensity along the axis of the disc. Further, if the impact force applied to the contact roller is at an acute angle with the pier, it will have a glancing effect on the contact roller causing it to spin on its axis. Should the contact rollers axis not be aligned normal to the direction of the impact force, the force striking the roller at an angle coupled with the off-center position of the contact rollers axis will cause a torque to be applied to disc 41 radial to its axis. This torque action turns the disc 41 to the point where the torque is reduced to zero, which is the point of correct orientation of the contact roller 49 relative to the applied force. In the correctly oriented position the applied force is tangential to the roller 49 and the roller rotates in response to the force, thereby greatly reducing the friction caused by lateral movement of a ship or other object alongside the pier.

Secure-d to and depending from the bottom of the panel 32, as with a double-ended threaded male coupling 54, is

a connecting tube assembly 50 which has a float 51 on the Patented July 29,! 1 958 end thereof. This float provides a buoyant support for the contact assembly 31. The float 51 may be hollow, or made of some buoyant material such as wood or cork as desired. The float serves to maintain the contact assembly 31 at a constant distance above the water surface, regardless of the level of the water relative to the pier platform. The connecting tube assembly 50 is made extensible, as by telescopic construction with bolt and slot or other suitable securing means 52, 53 for securing it at a desired length, although such construction may not be necessary or desirable in all instances.

In operation it will be seen that the contact assembly 31 is maintained at a constant pre-set distance above the surface of the water to insure proper contact of the roller 49 with the side of a ship when it comes alongside the pier 12. The roller will follow the lateral movement of the ship through its torque arm effect on the disc 41 and will thus allow free movement of the ship up, down, and sideways along the pier 12.

In some instances it may be highly desirable to provide for resilient movement of the roller 49 toward the pier to absorb the shock of any abrupt movement of the ship against the roller. In such case the caster supports may be modified as shown in Fig. 4. In this modification the supports may each be made in two telescoping parts 61, 62 with a buffer spring 63 arranged between the two parts to provide for resilient movement of the outer part 62 toward the pier 12.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

What is claimed is:

1. A pier bumper for attachment to the pilings of a pier comprising a pair of grooved guides, means for securing said guides to said pier piling in vertical spaced apart relation, a panel mounted in said guides for vertical movement therein, a disc rotatably mounted on said panel with its axis horizontal and normal to the side of said pier, a pair of spaced apart normally extending roller support members secured to the face of said disc, a shaft secured near the end of said support members, a roller rotatably mounted on said shaft, the axis of said shaft and roller being parallel to the side of said pier and spaced laterally from the axis of said disc.

2. A pier bumper for attachment to the pilings of a pier comprising a pair of grooved guides, means for securing said guides to said pier piling in vertical spaced apart relation, a panel mounted in said guides for vertical movement therein, a disc rotatably mounted on said panel with its axis horizontal and normal to the side of said pier, a pair of spaced apart normally extending roller support members secured to the face of said disc, a shaft secured near the end of said support members, a roller rotatably mounted on said shaft, the axis of said shaft and roller being parallel to the side of said pier and spaced laterally from the axis of said disc, and a float connected to said panel in depending relation therefrom.

3. A device for protecting a pier and a vessel secured thereo, comprising float supported means mounted on the side of the pier for sliding movement vertically thereof, a float depending from said supported means for moving the same vertically with the rise and fall of the tide, wheel supported means mounted on said float supporting means for rotation about a horizontal axis disposed laterally of the pier, and a wheel journalled in said wheel supporting means for rotation about an axis in spaced parallel relation to the side of the pier, said last named axis being spaced laterally of said horizontal axis whereby the wheel in contact with the vessel is rotatively positioned thereby about the horizontal axis for rotation in a vertical plane as the vessel moves vertically with the tide or selectively is rotatively positioned by the vessel about the horizontal axis for rotation in a horizontal plane in response to horizontal movement of the vessel along the pier.

4. A pier bumper comprising contact means for engaging the side of a ship, means secured to a pier for slidably supporting said contact means, and float means connected to said contact means for positioning said contact means a predetermined distance above the water, said contact means including a ship engaging roller and means for rotatably supporting said roller on said supporting means for rotation about an axis perpendicular to the rollers axis in response to movement of the ship to a position where the rollers axis of rotation is normal to the direction of the ships movement as the ship moves horizontally or vertically relative to the pier.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 876,170 Grant Jan. 7, 1908 985,371 Roeth Feb. 28, 1911 1,347,389 Larsen July 20, 1920 2,417,849 Walters Mar. 25, 1947 2,761,410 Marr Sept. 4, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,234 Great Britain Apr. 24, 1913 

